Style guide

This page is designed to help contributors and editors maintain consistency and may also be useful to readers in explaining editorial decisions made. This will be added to and developed.

Overall style: in order to avoid the need to write an entire style guide, we use the Economist style guide. This is because it is sensible and internationally recognised, as well as less politically charged than any of the newspaper choices. Some exceptions may be tracked here.

The priority for editing is clarity and not to drown out the voice of the writer. Editing for style is most important in the news section, which should be neutral and to the point, with no unnecessary quotes or speculation. Beyond that, editing is only likely to be done for reasons of space and writers can avoid that by trying to make their article as near to 200 words as they can. Longer articles will sometimes be used so it is worth keeping longer versions but very often the act of cutting an article will make it more readable, so don't be afraid.

Show, don't tell: Local Edition is not a campaigning newspaper. While many stories may be sparked by a debate (Is Burslem dead?), we will take no editorial stance but will try to show the evidence that can inform people's arguments on the streets. Draw connections by all means, but don't try to lead readers to a conclusion unless you are on the opinion page.

Make no assumptions: Local Edition is aimed at a diverse set of communities from a variety of backgrounds. You may be writing about people you know about, but never make sweeping statements about your readership (eg 'we hard working Brits')

Editing basics:
- UPPER case for the first word of all articles. Include two words if the first word is THE or A.
- No italics, just capitalisation for newspaper and other titles.
- Titles - the Economist guide is followed but we will avoid all titles and use surname on second mentions. This is for consistency and fairness and doesn't imply any lack of respect. Titles for job positions can be used if relevant, eg Dr Smith or PC Smith. But generally, there is no need to know whether a woman is married/unmarried/choosing not to say or whether a man has been knighted. Everybody is equal. Use lower case for all roles, eg a butcher, a king, a prime minister. MP is an acronym so upper case.